Joining mirrored diecast parts 4

[breezy83]

Hello, I'm looking to join 2 mirrored diecast parts. Basically, I'm looking for the equivalent to ultrasonic welding for diecasting. Does anyone know the best practice to achieve this? The materials I'm considering are AL or a Zinc AL alloy (Z8). I would appreciate any advice, thanks!

 

[drawoh]

breezy83,

Have you designed the parts yet? Adhesive works very well if you have a large contact area. If I were welding, I would talk to my welding shop and see what they want. The two pieces must fixture, which probably rules out absolutely mirrored. I would want a flange to make the contact surfaces rigid so that they don't warp too much under the heat of welding.

Is there any reason you cannot screw this thing together?

--
JHG

 

[breezy83]

drawoh,

Thanks for your response! I'm avoiding fasteners for aesthetic reasons. The parts aren't finalized yet, and won't be fully mirrored. I definitely haven't ruled out glue, but is there any reason you wouldn't use an interference fit to mate the halves? I was thinking of bosses for dowel pins to mate the 2.

 

[TugboatEng]

Interference fitting requires precise tolerances and relatively thick walls. That can add to cost. Dowels aren't required, depending on how you plan to assemble.

 

[drawoh]

breezy83,

Interference fitting requires extremely precise tolerances, impossible with diecasting. Can you make the parts snap together? Can you look for aesthetic screws?

--
JHG

 

[DiamondDave]

Could you have a stud on one half and a tapped hole on the other and sxrew them together?

 

[btrueblood]

Zinc diecasting alloys weld...poorly. The zinc boils out of the puddle (spatters, fumes) before other alloy elements have a chance to fully melt.

 

[MintJulep]

Take a look at this.

https://www.eazall.com/Download/GetFileUpload?downloadId=089c42d6-10b7-40bd-90e6-4647c0516888